Posts Tagged ‘Jose Calderon’

January 12, 2015 · 11:18AM

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HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS — Phil Jackson is not done dealing yet in New York.

The New York Knicks’ boss didn’t necessarily expect to take apart the roster this soon in New York, but after moving J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert last week to Cleveland, it appears Jackson is intent on doing more trade business in these opening days of the New Year.

The New York Knicks are actively tryi‎ng to trade veterans Jose Calderon and Andrea Bargnani as part of their ongoing roster clearout, according to league sources.

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The Knicks recently dealt J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert to Cleveland and waived center Samuel Dalembert to start the process of disassembling a roster mired in the worst start in franchise history at 5-35.

Knicks president Phil Jackson, in publicly taking the blame for the team’s dreadful record under rookie coach Derek Fisher, said Saturday that “no one should be surprised” if the club continues to reshape its roster through deals prior to the Feb. 19 trade deadline.

But ‎sources maintain that the Knicks are not looking to move Stoudemire and, at least for now, intend to keep him for the rest of the season. That could theoretically lead to Stoudemire — who has relished his time with the Knicks despite the club’s struggles — re-signing with them over the summer at a reduced rate. The 32-year-old former All-Star, who has been plagued by knee injuries in recent years, is playing out the final year of his current contract at $23.4 million.

Calderon, meanwhile, has no shortage of admirers around the league despite his struggles this season, averaging a mere 9.3 points per game on 40.8-percent shooting. But the two years left on his contract after this season — worth $15.1 million — could make it difficult to move the 33-year-old Spaniard, ‎who arrived in New York in late June as the Knicks’ foremost return in the Tyson Chandler deal with Dallas.

Sources say Bargnani, meanwhile, is a candidate to be waived next month if New York can’t find a deal for the former No. 1 overall pick and his $11.5 million expiring contract before the Feb. 19 deadline for deals.

No. 1:Anthony ‘not shutting it down for the season yet’– Debate has raged over the last week or so about whether or not New York Knicks All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony should stop playing this season to rest his sore knee. While the team may want Anthony to think about such a move, he’s not interested in doing that. In a video posted on Bleacher Report, Anthony says he plans to keep chugging along this season:

“I’m all right, I’m not shutting it down for the season yet, just trying to take some time to get it right. I know there’s a lot of fans out there that are kinda upset, kinda down on the team, kinda down on the players right now, kinda down on the situation, but I will say it will be greater later. Just be patient with the team, with the organization, with the journey, with the plan, with what we’re trying to create, what we’re trying to accomplish. Greatness don’t happen overnight, but that’s what we’re trying to build here.

“As far as me, I’m rehabbing. I’m around the clock getting treatment, therapy, trying to do what I got to do so I can be at my greatest.”

October 30, 2014 · 11:18AM

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NEW YORK – The New York Knicks have admitted freely that the Triangle offense would take time to learn. Exhibit A: Their 104-80 loss to the Chicago Bulls in the first game of the season on Wednesday.

The Knicks’ offense looked slow, robotic, disjointed, clumsy, and just flat-out brutal. They only had 12 turnovers, but there were some ugly ones, like passes going straight out of bounds because guys weren’t on the same page.

And the shots …

There was an occasional layup off a back-door play on the weak side, a Triangle staple. But most of the Knicks points were not a product of the offense, but of their ability to improvise after things broke down. They still have some talented offensive players on the roster.

But when Samuel Dalembert and Quincy Acy combine to take four 15-20 footers in the first quarter, something is very wrong. The Knicks took 21 shots from the restricted area and 17 3-pointers. They took just as many shots (38) from mid-range, with another nine from the similarly inefficient area of the paint outside the restricted area.

It wasn’t as old-school (and bad) as the Lakers’ shot chart on Wednesday, but that kind of shot selection isn’t going to win you many games. You can credit the Chicago defense some and also note that New York was without starting point guard Jose Calderon (strained right calf). But the offensive disfunction was just as clear in the preseason against lesser defenses and with a healthy Calderon.

“We’re going somewhere,” Knicks coach Derek Fisher said after Wednesday’s game. “But at the beginning of where we’re going, it’s going to be difficult to get wins.”

Not at all. If the offense was bad, the defense was worse. But with the personnel the Knicks have, the defense probably won’t get much better over the course of the season, so the pressure is on the offense to start functioning, because the wins and losses count now.

And the Knicks play a tough early schedule as they try to look a little less disjointed every game. They will help Cleveland welcome back LeBron James on Thursday (8 p.m. ET, TNT) and then head back home to face East playoff teams Washington and Charlotte.

Their worst opponent in their first eight games is probably the Pistons, but that game is in Detroit, on the second night of a back-to-back for the Knicks. The eight games are all against East teams that could push New York out of a playoff spot, and the stretch includes three back-to-backs.

So you have to wonder when the Triangle will start to work, at least to a point where the Knicks have a chance to score consistently against NBA defenses.

“There’s not a calendar date,” Fisher said when asked about his team’s learning curve on offense. “It really just depends on our team and our players and our willingness to stick with the process.”

Brazil ranked as a top-three defense (behind only Spain and the U.S.) through the first days of World Cup action. But the tournament hosts torched them in the first quarter, scoring 30 points on just 17 possessions, with Pau Gasol (12 in the period) looking clearly like the best of the seven NBA big men in the matchup.

He wasn’t the only 34-year-old Spanish star to turn the clock back, as Juan Carlos Navarro scored seven of his team’s first 15 points. Marc Gasol and Rudy Fernandez also got in the early action, with Ricky Rubio running the show. Spain built a comfortable lead before they had even unleashed Serge Ibaka and Jose Calderon off the bench.

Brazil was able to settle down and get some stops in the second quarter, but could never really make the game interesting. Pau Gasol started raining jumpers in the third quarter, hitting three 3s and a long two as Spain built a 21-point lead.

They cruised from there. After two easy wins over Iran and Egypt, it was clear they were determined to separate themselves from the other good teams in Group A.

“Everybody who stepped on the court played great tonight,” Calderon said. “This was important for us.”

And the elder Gasol seems determined to lead his team to gold on its home turf. He looks healthy and spry and his game looks complete. He finished with 26 points, nine rebounds and three impressive blocks on Monday, at one point meeting Nene at the rim and turning him away.

Spain has games against France (Wednesday) and Serbia (Thursday) remaining, but may have just faced the toughest team they’ll see before a matchup with the U.S.

This wasn’t just a preview of the talent and depth that the U.S. might eventually face in the gold medal game. The crowd also provided an indication of how loud and intense the atmosphere might be. They will certainly turn it up a notch with a stronger opponent in the building.

Given their home-court advantage and superior chemistry (from having played as a team much more often), it’s fair to call Spain the tournament favorites over the team that hasn’t lost since 2006. Monday’s game was Exhibit A.

“If they play each other,” Brazil coach Ruben Magnano said through a translator, “it would be a really interesting game.”

More notes from Spain 82, Brazil 63…

Brazil has an NBA frontline and a fantastic point guard in Marcelo Huertas. But they’re still not a great offensive team. Tiago Splitter and Varejao are terrific role players in the NBA, but they’re not going to scare many defenses when they’re posting up early and often. And Nene just seems to be a better NBA player than FIBA player, the anti-Luis Scola if you will.

Leandro Barbosa was the only Brazilian to really get going offensively. He scored 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting. Huertas was also able to find some holes in the Spanish defense, but the Brazil bigs were neutralized and the team could never get much going offensively.

Sergio Rodriguez has improved as a shooter and scorer since he last played in the NBA in 2010. The 2013-14 Euroleague MVP is another weapon that Spain brings off the bench and tallied 12 points on 4-for-6 shooting on Monday.

Other games of note…

Group B: Senegal 77, Croatia 75

Behind 17 first-half points from Gorgui Dieng, Senegal (2-1) had a nine-point lead at the break. Croatia (2-1) worked its way back, but missed five 3-pointers that would have tied the game or given them the lead in the final five minutes.

When we talk about the long-term potential of young Timberwolves like Ricky Rubio, Andrew Wiggins, Zach LaVine and Anthony Bennett, we have to include the 24-year-old Dieng in the conversation. He’s not just long and athletic, but also a very smart and willing passer out of the high post. This is a guy who averaged 12.2 points and 12.0 rebounds in 15 starts as a rookie and is now putting up huge and efficient numbers (22.0 points, 11.7 rebounds, 1.7 steals, 1.7 blocks, 54 percent shooting) at the World Cup.

Dario Saric continues to display ridiculous talent. He racked up 15 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals on Monday. And with an off day on Tuesday, he gets to visit the dentist to replace those six teeth he lost to Andres Nocioni‘s elbow.

Bojan Bogdanovic also scored 15 points for Croatia, but shot 5-for-14 (1-for-7 from 3-point range), missing two threes that could have tied the game in the final two minutes.

Group B: Argentina 85, Philippines 81

The Philippines (0-3) continues to play strong against very good teams, but just can’t pick up a victory. Argentina (2-1) trailed early, but built a 15-point lead late in the third quarter. Then the Philippines came all the way back to within one with two minutes to go.

But Andray Blatche missed a 3 to take the lead, Argentina got a couple of huge offensive rebounds, and Jayson William traveled with a chance to tie or take the lead in the final seconds, allowing Argentina to escape with the win.

More Day 3 notes

Evan Fournier missed his first seven shots of the World Cup and is still 0-for-7 from 3-point range, but he got off the schneid with a wide-open jumper late in the first half of France’s 94-55 win over Egypt and finished with nine points and four assists, with the blowout allowing him to find a little bit of a rhythm as his team’s fifth guard.

Missing Carlos Arroyo, Puerto Rico fell to 0-3 with a 90-79 loss to Greece, with Giannis Antetokounmpo scoring 15 points on 5-for-11 shooting. Greece and Spain are the first two teams to clinch berths in the round of 16.

Big games on tap for Tuesday

Groups A (Granada) and B (Sevilla) take the day off, while Groups C (Bilbao) and D (Gran Canaria) get back to business.

Angola-Mexico (7:30 a.m. ET) is likely for fourth place in Group D and a trip to Barcelona for the round of 16. Angola (1-1) has a win over Korea, who Mexico (0-2) has yet to play.

There are four teams with 1-1 records in Group C. One of them isn’t going to finish in the top four, and they all play each other on Tuesday. So both Ukraine-Turkey (9 a.m. ET) and Finland-Dominican Republic (3:30 p.m. ET) will be important.

Australia-Lithuania (11:30 a.m. ET) should be the highest quality game of the day.

August 25, 2014 · 4:04PM

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HANG TIME NEW JERSEY –LeBron James was always taking the summer off from competitive basketball. Kevin Love decided to do the same just before the U.S. National Team opened training camp in Las Vegas last month. But there are still reasons for Cavs fans to watch the FIBA World Cup, which begins Saturday in Spain.

The Cavs are one of two teams that will have four players taking part in the World Cup. Kyrie Irving, of course, will start (at least some games) at point guard for the United States. He’ll face new teammate Erik Murphy, playing for Finland, in the USA’s first pool-play game.

Murphy, who was acquired in a trade from Utah last month, may not necessarily be on the Cavs’ opening-night roster. Only $100,000 of his $816,000 contract is guaranteed, the Cavs are already over the 15-man roster limit, and they’ve yet to sign Shawn Marion.

Irving has already faced Brazil’s Anderson Varejao in an exhibition game. And he could go head-to-head with his Cleveland back-up — Australia’s Matthew Dellavedova — in the knockout round.

The Rockets are the other NBA team that will have four players at the World Cup. James Harden, the Dominican Republic’s Francisco Garcia, Lithuania’s Donatas Motiejunas and Greece’s Kostas Papanikolaou will all represent the Rockets in Spain.

Papanikolaou is one of five incoming rookies at the tournament. The others are the Bulls’ Cameron Bairstow (Australia), the Nets’ Bojan Bogdanovic (Croatia), the Jazz’s Dante Exum (Australia), and the Pacers’ Damjan Rudez (Croatia).

Croatia’s Bogdanovic is not to be confused with Serbia’s Bogdan Bogdanovic, who was selected in this year’s Draft by the Suns and will play at least two years in Turkey before coming to the NBA. The Serbian Bogdanovic is one of six guys taken in the last two drafts who has yet to come over.

August 1, 2014 · 2:23PM

By Jeff Caplan, NBA.com

Jameer Nelson is moving on to Dallas after 10 seasons with the Orlando Magic.

HANG TIME SOUTHWEST –Jameer Nelson is finally packing up. The moving trucks have been summoned to transport a decade’s worth of belongings and memories halfway across the country. It won’t be easy for Nelson and his wife, Imani, and their four children — Jameer Jr., two weeks from turning 13, and daughters Jamia, 8, Jayden, 6, and Jayce, 2 — to pick up and leave the city he’s played his heart out for, or the community the family loved … and that loved them back.

Yet sometimes even the youngest ones can sense when it’s time for a fresh start.

“My daughter is back there listening, my 8-year-old, she’s excited,” Nelson said during a phone conversation with NBA.com on Thursday afternoon. “My 6-year old, they’re both excited. My son hasn’t said too much, but I actually picked his brain a little bit when I was figuring teams out, asking him some questions. He said, ‘wherever you want to go, let’s do it.’

“So, yeah, we’re going to all move down and build up the population in Dallas.”

Nelson is leaving the Orlando Magic after 10 seasons to join the Dallas Mavericks. An intriguing team after a busy summer, Dallas hasn’t landed the superstar it covets. But it has added Nelson, center Tyson Chandler and small forward Chandler Parsons to play alongside Dirk Nowitzki and Monta Ellis.

Nelson will earn $2.73 million this season and holds a player option for next season.

“I feel like one of the reasons I chose Dallas is I wanted to play a significant role on a good team and I felt like there’s opportunity there,” said Nelson, who averaged 12.1 ppg and 7.0 apg in 32.0 mpg last season.

“Nothing’s going to be given to me; nothing’s ever been given to me my entire life. I’m up for any challenge that’s in front of me, so if we got to battle for the [starting] spot, we’ll battle for the spot.”

Nelson, 32, was waived by the Magic on June 30, a salary-cap-saving move made by a franchise deep into a rebuilding movement. He responded by gracefully thanking the organization for all it had done for him and his family and the team responded in kind. In 2012, at the height of Orlando’s “Dwightmare,” Nelson opted out of the final year of his contract only to re-sign. Even after coach Stan Van Gundy was fired and Dwight Howard was traded, setting the stage for a ground-up rebuild, Nelson never asked out.

“That [loyalty] was something that was instilled in me through my younger years by my parents and the people who helped mold who I am,” Nelson said. “I was willing to stay the first year, and the second year got a little tougher. It was just time for me to go. It was time to go.”

In retrospect, he witnessed one of the more stunning free falls in sports. The Magic reached The Finals in 2009 — an injury-plagued season for Nelson, who missed the entire postseason before making a courageous, but ultimately unsuccessful Finals return against the Lakers — and then the Eastern Conference finals in 2010. From there, a series of personnel moves and the Howard disaster sent the franchise spiraling.

“I thought that team was going to be together forever,” Nelson said. “One of my good friends, Keyon Dooling, always preached to us as one of the veteran guys to never take things for granted because you might be on a good team now, but next year you might not be on such a good team. It’s the truth. You think things don’t end, but that obviously ended pretty quick.”

Nelson looks at yet another revamped Mavs roster and compares it to those potent Magic teams, boasting multiple shooters and scorers and a defensive backbone.

“And then fortunately,” Nelson said, “I’m in the mix of being there as the quarterback.”

The marriage of Nelson and the Mavs was a two-way street from the start. Nelson made a list of desirable destinations based on roster strength, need at point guard, organizational culture and location. While Dallas was linked for weeks to combo guard Mo Williams, who recently signed with Minnesota, Nelson was the team’s more pressing need.

His level-headed, team-oriented approach are the most desired traits in a Mavs locker room long led by Nowitzki, one of the league’s most down-to-earth superstars. The 7-footer proved it again this summer by agreeing to a massively below-market contract worth $25 million over the next three seasons. His willingness to take less allowed Dallas to make Parsons an aggressive offer and also add roster-wide depth.

“Dirk sets the tone, he’s a superstar and he takes a three-year, $25-million deal,” Nelson said. “Now it’s like who else can argue? Nobody can argue with that, nobody can complain. This guy is sacrificing a lot to win. That’s what it all should be about. That’s one of the major reasons I came to Dallas, to win.”

Nelson won’t end up being a career one-team player, and he must leave the community where and his wife raised a family.

But opportunity beckons in Dallas, where the population just increased by six.

July 25, 2014 · 12:49PM

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HANG TIME NEW JERSEY – After three years of mediocrity, the Dallas Mavericks could be one of the best teams in the NBA again. They’ll be one of the most unique teams, for sure.

Over the last two days, the Mavs signed Jameer Nelson and agreed to terms with Al-Farouq Aminu (a replacement for and a much different player than the injured Rashard Lewis), making their depth chart look even more lopsided than it already was.

Nelson joins a backcourt that already includes Raymond Felton and Devin Harris, while Aminu joins Chandler Parsons, Richard Jefferson and Jae Crowder on the wing. Seven of the Mavs’ top 11 guys are nominal point guards or small forwards.

The other four include hybrid guard Monta Ellis, stretch four Dirk Nowitzki, and Brandan Wright, who’s basically a power forward disguised as a center. At least we’ll know what position Tyson Chandler is playing whenever he’s on the floor.

Otherwise, it’s going to be positionless basketball for the Mavs. They’re going to have two point guards on the floor quite a bit. One of the small forwards (likely Aminu) is going to be backing up Nowitzki at the four. And Ellis will be a two who handles the ball more than the three point guards.

Offensively, it should work just fine. Ellis/Nowitzki pick-and-pops were already potent. But they now have, in Chandler, a better finisher down low. And they now have, in Parsons, a better attacker on the weak side.

It’s defense that will determine where the Mavs ultimately stand in the brutally tough Western Conference. That’s why they got back Chandler, who was the anchor of their top 10, championship defense in 2010-11.

But Chandler was also the anchor of New York defenses that ranked 17th and 24th the last two seasons. He can’t turn Dallas’ 22nd-ranked D around by himself and Shawn Marion will be missed on that end of the floor. That championship team also had Jason Kidd, DeShawn Stevenson and Brendan Haywood backing up Chandler.

Aminu is a plus defender, but his inability to shoot will limit his minutes. Otherwise, the Mavs will need guys who haven’t been great defenders to play good defense as a unit.

On both ends of the floor, the Mavs will be fascinating to watch. They’ve used trades (Chandler), a major free agent signing (Parsons), and great deals on vets (Jefferson, Nelson, Aminu) to put a lot of talent around Nowitzki, who turned 36 last month.

July 16, 2014 · 7:24PM

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LAS VEGAS – To put into perspective the magnitude of Dirk Nowitzki‘s pay cut, consider this: He’ll make in the next three seasons what Kobe Bryant is charging the Lakers for just next season.

It’s a big reason why the Dallas Mavericks could be back in the conversation as a top-four contender in the Western Conference while the talent-depleted Los Angeles Lakers are more likely to miss the playoffs for a second consecutive season. That hasn’t happened since 1976.

Bryant signed a two-year, $48.5 million extension last year. Nowitzki signed an exceedingly below-market-value deal of three years and $25 million earlier this week. The total is even less than than the three years and $30 million he was initially believed to be signing.

When the Mavs convene for training camp in October, the league’s all-time 10th-leading scorer and the franchise’s leading scorer in every season since 2000, will be Dallas’ fourth-highest paid player.

“It’s just the kind of human being he is. He’s all about winning; he’s all about championships,” Mavs president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson said Wednesday as he watched Dallas’ Summer League team take on Charlotte. “He’s one of the most selfless superstars that have ever played in the NBA, and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to bring another parade to Dallas.

“He understood that we needed flexibility in order to get the team better. He’s part of the tapestry of the city of Dallas. He’s really a made man in a lot respects if you think about all the superstars that have come through in all the sports, in terms of basketball it doesn’t get any better than Dirk. He just made a decision to end his career there. Hopefully we can tag another contract on to that.”

By agreeing to go from making $22.7 million last season to $7.97 million this season, Nowitzki provided the Mavs front office with the financial ammunition to deliver a three-year, $46-million offer sheet to Rockets restricted free agent small forward Chandler Parsons.

“The one consistent from Day 1 is Dirk,” Nelson said. “We’re not in position this summer to be as active as we are without him taking a fairly major pay cut and being a team player.”

Houston eventually did not match the contract and the Mavs acquired much-needed youth and talent in the 25-year-old Chandler. He joins a front line that includes Nowitzki and also 7-foot-1 center Tyson Chandler, whom the Mavs acquired in a trade before the start of free agency.

Chandler, on the final year of a four-year, $60 million deal he signed with the Knicks following Dallas’ 2011 championship, will be the Mavs’ highest-paid player at $14.8 million. Parsons is right behind him at $14.7 million. Shooting guard Monta Ellis will make $8.36 million.

To bring this back to the Lakers, power forward Jordan Hill will make $1 million more than Nowitzki next season.

In each of the last three summers, Dallas has tried to lure a max free agent to pair with Nowitzki in his final seasons and then to take the mantle once the big German finally calls it a career. That plan hasn’t worked out and since winning the title in 2011, owner Mark Cuban has continually flipped the roster. They were bounced in the first round of their title defense, missed the playoffs in 2012-13 and then won 49 games last season and took the Spurs to seven games in the first round.

The organization talked of continuity, but when the chance arose to reclaim Chandler from the Knicks, they sent starters Jose Calderon and Samuel Dalembert to New York. Dallas lost Vince Carter to Memphis and appears on the verge of losing veteran small forward Shawn Marion, the last player left along with Nowitzki from the title team. Point guard Raymond Felton came to Dallas in the Chandler trade and will tag team with Devin Harris.

Dallas also signed veteran Richard Jefferson and depth center Greg Smith, and it still has a $2.73 million exception and a minimum salary slot to fill. The Mavs didn’t get the big fish again, but with the help of their longtime superstar taking not only a haircut, but a buzzcut, they’ve remade the roster yet again, and this time might have pulled themselves back into contention.

“It’s always been that way,” Nelson said. “Dirk is part of the Mavs family, and he and Mark have had a special, unique, honest and forthcoming relationship since Mark has owned the team. He’s probably the biggest reasons we’ve had 15 years of great chemistry in the locker room. We haven’t been without our speed bumps, but for the most part we’ve had a really good team atmosphere and it starts from the top with Dirk in the locker room, Mark from a franchise perspective and you have the best coach in the game in Rick Carlisle.”

July 13, 2014 · 7:36PM

HANG TIME SOUTHWEST – The Dallas Mavericks rolled the dice and came up with 3-point ace Chandler Parsons.

The Houston Rockets on Sunday opted not to match the aggressive, three-year, $46-million offer sheet Mavericks owner Mark Cuban delivered to the restricted free agent the moment the NBA’s moratorium period expired on Thursday. Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle first reported the Rockets would not match, the organization concluding that the high price tag would hinder long-term building.

The always opportunistic Cuban, who partied with Chandler and his parents at a bar after the 6-foot-9 small forward signed the offer sheet, made it official Sunday afternoon, writing “Welcome to Dallas Chandler Parsons” on his Cyber Dust app.

Parsons, who becomes Dallas’ highest-paid player at $15 million next season, alerted the masses via Twitter:

Just heard from @dmorey and Mr. Alexander. Nothing but utmost respect for them, the fans and city of Houston. THANK YOU for your support!

Parson’s arrival, coupled with the trade for Tyson Chandler, means Dallas has flipped a front line of Shawn Marion, Dirk Nowitzki and Samuel Dalembert into Parsons, Nowitzki and Chandler. The starting lineup rounds out with shooting guard Monta Ellis and either Raymond Felton or Devin Harris at point guard.

Nowitzki, 36, is the hero here. Coming off a four-year, $80-million contract, he agreed to a three-year deal for $30 million in the first week of free agency. The hometown discount allowed Dallas to pad the price of Parsons’ offer sheet. While $15 million per season might seem hefty for a player just three years into his career, put it in terms of $25 million total for Parsons and Nowitzki, and it’s much more palatable.

During the three days the Rockets had to mull their Parsons strategy, they signed small forward and Mavs secondary target Trevor Ariza away from Washington, the first sign Houston might be moving away from Parsons. Another Mavs Plan B target, Luol Deng, agreed to a deal Sunday with Miami.

Suddenly, if Rockets general manager Daryl Morey was going to match, the Mavs’ alternatives were looking bleak at a position they wanted to upgrade. Plus, they had already lost nearly half of their 3-point shooting from last season with Vince Carter signing a free-agent deal with Memphis and Jose Calderon now in New York, the price for acquiring Chandler.

Now Dallas has a 25-year-old borderline All-Star who last season averaged 16.6 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 4.0 apg and shot 37.0 percent from beyond the arc. Chandler was the classic “sleeper,” a four-year player at Florida who became the Rockets’ prized second-round pick by tremendously outplaying his low-cost contract.

Dallas believes next to the sweet-shooting Nowitzki and quick-penetrating Ellis, Parsons will fit seamlessly in coach Rick Carlisle‘s flow offense.

This will be a bitter pill to swallow for the superstar-searching Morey. He declined the team option that would pay Parsons $965,000 next season, a move that would have made Parsons an unrestricted free agent in 2015. Morey wanted to clear as much cap space as possible to make a run at LeBron James or Carmelo Anthony, but always with the objective of retaining Parsons.

Neither superstar chose Houston, but when James announced he was returning to Cleveland, the door opened for a run at All-Star forward Chris Bosh. And the Rockets thought they had him. Only at the last minute Bosh signed a $118-million max contract to stay in Miami, simultaneously nuking Houston’s plans to match Parson’s offer sheet.

For Dallas, the risk paid off gloriously. Parsons will replace Marion, a popular and reliable veteran, and the last player other than Nowitzki from the Mavs’ 2011 championship team. The 36-year-old will likely be moving on as Dallas is down to a $2.73 million exception which they’ll likely use to bolster the backcourt where point guard would appear to be the one key weakness. Combo guard and 3-point specialist Mo Williams has been a target.

Cuban, like Morey, has been big-fish hunting for three summers, but unlike Morey, he has come up empty each time. In a twist surely not lost on either men, Parsons heavily recruited Dwight Howard last summer and the All-Star center passed on Dallas and signed a four-year deal with the Rockets. Now Cuban will certainly delight in a little revenge.

Not to mention an improved roster. Dallas won 49 games last season, yet had to fight to the end to secure the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. With the flexible and adaptable Carlisle at the controls, the Mavs, boasting one of the league’s most efficient offenses throughout the regular season, took eventual champion San Antonio to seven games in the first round.

Interior defense was the obvious weakness and Dallas quickly pulled the trigger to return Chandler, the 7-1 anchor who completed the title team.

Now, by taking a gamble mixed with little good fortune, the Mavs got their other Chandler, as in Parsons.

July 9, 2014 · 11:10AM

By Jeff Caplan, NBA.com

HANG TIME SOUTHWEST –Raymond Felton‘s recruitment of former teammate Carmelo Anthony to join him in Dallas apparently fell on deaf ears. One must wonder if yet another Felton attempt to solicit belief in a fresh start will, too.

“I just have to show everybody that I’ve still got it, I still can play,” Felton said on a conference call with Dallas reporters Tuesday. “I still can play the game at this level. I still play as an elite point guard at this level. That’s just all. When you come off a season like I had last year, there’s always a point where you’ve got to prove yourself coming back the next season. And trust me, I look forward to it.”

It’s the second time in three years the point guard is coming off an awful season. He showed up for his first season in Portland after the 2011 lockout out of shape and never rounded into form. He quickly became the butt of pudgy point-guard jokes and the poster child for players who relaxed for too long during the work stoppage. He and was basically run out of town.

The Knicks brought him back in 2012 and Felton made similar pleas about fresh starts and being motivated. But his second season in New York was a disaster on and off the court. His divorce was recently finalized and in June he reached a plea deal to avoid jail time stemming from gun charges. In February, Felton’s then-estranged wife alleged he threatened her with a loaded, semi-automatic handgun.

“I was just fighting with a lot of injuries, and I was fighting with a lot of mental stuff off the court, but like I said earlier, I don’t make any excuses,” Felton said. “Last season was all my fault. It was nobody else’s but mine. I take the blame for it totally. Like I said, I look forward to this year. I’m putting all that behind me last year. I’m looking forward to this year with the Mavs.”

Dallas is putting as positive a spin as possible on the potential for Felton taking over as the starting point guard. It’s not as though he was their hand-picked choice. They badly wanted back center Tyson Chandler, their fiery, defensive anchor during the 2011 championship season, but to get him in last month’s trade, Knicks president Phil Jacksonfoisted Felton upon them to complete the deal.

“He’s an enthusiastic, high-energy, aggressive type of guy and I know he’s going to be extremely motivated,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. “I’ve known him for many years and I’ve had positive experiences working with him and watching him play. He’s going to have a terrific year.”

Since Jason Kidd left after the 2011-12 season, Dallas has burned through backcourt combos. The tandem of Darren Collison and O.J. Mayo was a bust in 2012-13, while Calderon and Monta Ellis, with Devin Harris off the bench, worked pretty well last season.

Harris this week agreed to a three-year deal to stay in Dallas, and will likely back up Felton, who last season averaged a career-low 9.7 points and 5.6 assists. That duo enters as one the worst shooting point-guard combos in the Western Conference. Felton shot 39.5 percent from the floor (31.8 percent from beyond the arc) last year and Harris shot a career-worst 37.8 (30.7 percent from 3).

Although Felton, who turned 30 last month, hasn’t escaped the body-image jokes, he denied that conditioning was an issue for him last season. He said at this point of the summer, his physical conditioning is as good as it has been in the last five years.

He is owed $3.8 million this season and has a player option for next season at $3.95 million.

“I’ve got a lot of things that motivate me this summer,” Felton said. “I’m just really getting after it, just working extra, extra hard. I’m not really doing anything different, just doing it more and working at it harder.”